Our Branch

On Father's Day we took some pictures of "Our Branch" of the family tree in front of our big maple tree. I didn't know at the time the layout I would do would involve more trees than the maple we were standing in front of.

 

 

When I looked at the sketch created by Laura Whitaker of Scrapmuch? the grouping of the tabs struck me a being like the crown of a tree. From there the idea of using our family photos taken with the big maple took on a life of its own.

 

 

It was really exciting to find paper in my stash that had the right colour of leaves. Then came the lining up of my paper trunk branches with the real ones in the photo. That was a little tricky but the Silhouette came through for me again. The background has an earthy look and the brush strokes at the top of the paper reminded me of clouds.

The title had to be attached to a branch. What else? The two birds placed in front of Bruce and I added to the whole theme of it being a family page.

For The Birds

Now before anyone becomes concerned, having seen the title and picture, I assure you Snuggles the cat never harmed a bird in his life.

 

Mom always said it was because she had trained him from a kitten not to go near birds. I however think it was more than likely he ignored the birds, like he ignored everything else, because he was just plain lazy. Seriously. I once saw a chipmunk run up his tail, across his back, over his head and down onto the sidewalk in front of him. Snugs just blinked and rolled over onto his side.

 

Snuggles did love to sit beside Mom as she watched and identified the birds that came to her the many feeders she had set up outside her patio window.
  

For the Birds

 

 

 I wanted to punch up the background so added a zig zag background in orange on top of the cream (Silhouette file) and then, with brown thread, followed the lines about 1/4 in from the patterned paper to create a "bird on a wire" type idea.

It only made sense to add birds to the layout. I found this perfectly coloured chipboard bird (Recollections) and two wire bird clips that fit in nicely.
 

The sketch is from Scrapmuch? and was created by Laura Whitaker. I didn't want to cut my pictures as they are older and I knew I couldn't replace them. She had incorporated 2 - 4x6 photos into her design and that worked perfectly for my layout.

King Liam

Little cousin Liam always seems to have something on his head. He owns any number of hats. In a pinch a pail or a chair arm cap will do, but there most often is something on his head. Most appropriate of all is the crown. He certainly is the king of all he surveys, especially the hearts of his adoring family.

 

The many looks of King Liam.

 

The trick to making myself comfortable with cutting a photo in half turned out to be selecting one that had two separate areas within the photo. In this case King Liam is on one page and his toys on the other.

 

I used the & sign to accentuate that the two pages were being combined to form a single layout.

 

Page 1 of 2

 

Stars and chevrons are what I used as accents. The chevrons go to opposite sides from the middle outwards. (Thank you Danie for the suggestion.)

 

The stars around Liam's head make him 'pop' off the page. 

 

Page 2 of 2

 

I wanted some spots of ink on the white and on a scrap of paper tried two tones of green and a yellow. I couldn't decide so used all three. It worked beautifully.

 

The Sketch

This sketch from Scrapmuch? created by Laura Whitaker, was really great to work with. So many photos are taken in the landscape orientation but the majority of sketches seem to favour portrait.  This is a sketch I'll definitely be using again. 

Pretty in Pink

Who could resist pulling over and taking pictures of these flowers? I've not often seen a pink trillium along the edge of a road,  however on a recent sunny afternoon found this one, and a blossoming crab apple tree,  all in the same place.

The pictures needed to be together, just as I'd found them on the road, so this sketch from Scrapmuch? was perfect.

 

I chose a butterfly embellishment for the top of the page. I wanted the butterfly to be interpreted as just leaving the trillium.

 

The other embellishment was made by attaching a necklace drop to each of black, grey and white paper flower petals. The green leaf pin completed the floral look. I experimented with a 'triple zig zag' I found on my Pfaff and love how it came out. Even though it was sewn with pale pink thread, being triple stitched the pink showed up nicely on both the green and the paler pieces of background.

 

 

 

All Ship Shape

Sam is now two months old and, like his cousins, finds himself a subject of his Great-Aunt Ronna's scrapbooking endeavours. In this layout I'm not sure iwhether he's displeased with the bath or the fact that he had to pose for yet another picture.

What a picture though. His little outfit led me straight to the Scrapmuch? June Kit Club package which, being primarily nautical in nature, couldn't have been more complimentary to the photos.

 

The sketch was from Stuck Sketches?! (June 15, 2014 Challenge) and designed by Laura Whitaker.

 

 

The little anchor and a matching brad in the "p" of the word shape, gave the title a bit of oomph.

 

Arrows as embellishments are always fun but I was having a hard time deciding whether to feature red, white or blue. It seemed easiest to use all three colours. I think the button with the red cord goes really well with the papers it rests on.

 

There will be lots more pictures of Sam. Like all babies he changes so  quickly. I'll try and keep a record of his changing looks, and that personality of his too. :)

IMAX 3D Movie Night

During a recent night's stay in Toronto, my daughter Erica was in charge of our evening entertainment. She planned a dinner and a movie. Of course with Erica nothing is ever quite as it would seem.

It might not have initially seemed to be a momentous plan, and no it wasn't my first chicken dinner, but it was my first 3D movie and my first time in an IMAX theatre. Now that combination of firsts, IMAX and 3D, was worth memorializing with a scrapbook layout.

As you can tell we saw Maleficent and it was magnificent. It took me a bit to get used to people and things flying around me. And let's not forget all these voices coming from every direction. A little creepy but WOW, I had a great time.

No tile would do but

 

IMAX 3D Movie Night, 

 

and no sketch would do but the June 6th, 2014 one from Let's Get Sketchy. 

 

I used the coasters from our hotel room to create spotlights behind our pictures. They also emphasized the theatre seating on the paper.

 

 

A bit of liquid glass made all the difference on the 3D portion of the title. It popped right out and together with the glasses and  word IMAX told the whole story of the page.

 

 

Being more traditional in my scrapbooking, I incorporate any memento of the event that I can, well those that I can smuggle into my purse, into my layout , hence even our show tickets had a featured role.

 

I can't wait to see how Erica tops this adventure during our next trip to Toronto.

 

Shop 'Til You Drop

Every girl who loves to 'shop 'til you drop' looks for a great bargain.

 

I found this great two for one deal courtesy of Sketch~N~Scrap with its Inspired Sketch #6, and the June Colour Challenge from ScrapMuch?

The ScrapMuch? colour challenge was bright and bold this month.

If there's one little girl that could truly appreciate these colours it's my great-niece Ashlynn. Here she's all dressed in pink and ready to shop with her Grandma. Now there's two women who can put the capital "B" on bargain.

 

The "Inspired Sketch" from Sketch~N~Scrap really lent itself to a shopping theme. All those suggested tags and chevrons inspired me to create with shopping receipts to keep true to the theme.



Do You KNow What a Ba Is?

Do you know what a Ba is?

If you capitalized both letters it would be the short form for Bachelor of Arts. If you added a second ‘a’ it would be the bleat of a sheep. Adding an ‘h’ gives you a Scrooge like expression of contempt.

In reality, and it took a two year old to put me wise to this, a Ba is a miniature blanket with many guises. It’s a blankie, a best friend, a softie, a must have for sleepy time and, for sure, there’s no going in the car seat without Ba.

Imagine my terror when I was asked to make a Ba in the event that something should happen to the now existing and much loved Ba.

From a little one’s point of view the world is not a safe place for a Ba. It can be wrenched out of your hands by a vicious wind whipping through the back seat. Locked in your car seat the wind is always the victor in such a tug-of war. There’s always a chance the Ba falls victim to the ‘magpie’ effect. A little one might see a pretty ball or big box of crayons and Ba gets left on a shelf. Ba is never there when you go back. No one calls with a ransom demand. Ba is just gone.

The beast can kill Ba. Little ones have their own information network and the word is out there; the beast in the basement can eat a Ba. It’s true. One wash too many and Ba is nothing more than thread in a lint trap.

A new little brother or sister is just days away from arriving into this little one’s life.  This brings into play any number of potential Ba related disasters. Babies grab everything and remember nothing. There it was…gone. Babies are messy. What they don’t smear all over things they rub on things. It’s scary just to think about. And worst of all; what if new baby is upset and ‘wants’ Ba. If Mommy and Daddy are out of options Ba may have to be sacrificed. The needs of the many ...and all that cosmic stuff you know.

So today I set about making a Ba. To make a Ba you need the most cuddly and softest fabrics possible, patience to make those blasted little finger loops, a.k.a. ‘drag it around holes' and some sort of cutie type applique for Ba's middle. The applique is important because when it comes to identifying your Ba in a crowd of Bas, the applique is the Ba fingerprint.

Using my Pfaff, Miss Ida, I first appliqued a frog. Grandfather Frog is the book this little one and her Grampa are reading so it seemed appropriate.

 

 

Applique of Grandfather Frog

Trying to turn those darn loops right side out.

 

With the front finished and the loops attached, it was time to add the backing.

I chose a soft nubby lime green chenille.

 

Ta Da...Da Ba

I HEART My Beff Fend

My "Beff Fend" is five years old and a joy in my life. Every occasion, from Valentine's Day to Christmas, he delivers me a card or gift.

The June 1st Stuck?! Sketches sketch gave me the perfect opportunity to showcase my Valentine's Day treasure. This was the first time I created a layout without using a photo.

Enjoy!